


Mother's Love

by protectoroffaeries



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, i actually almost made myself cry with this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 18:32:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7694947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectoroffaeries/pseuds/protectoroffaeries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Astoria loves her son, even after she's dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mother's Love

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to write a Scorbus longfic for like a week now, and it is just not working out the way I wanted to, so I took a break to work with Astoria Malfoy. 
> 
> I've never written her before, but I think she's the reason Scorpius is such a precious cinnamon roll child, so I thought I'd give her a shot in honor of what she has given all of us.
> 
> (The Scorbus in this fic is only briefly mentioned at the end ~ sorry, sorry, I will write a proper Scorbus centric fic soon, I promise!)

Astoria Malfoy knew that she would die young. 

Actually, she lived longer than she expected. She recalled her mother once telling her that there’d been a time, right after the doctors at St. Mungo’s told their family about the blood curse, where Astoria had only been expected to live for another six months or so. But you were a fighter, Astoria, her mother told her, and Astoria supposed that was true. Once.

She wasn’t a fighter anymore. She was weak and confined to a bed. And she was going quickly, she knew, regardless of whether she - or more importantly, her boys - were ready for it. Astoria didn’t regret falling in love with Draco, nor did she regret having Scorpius, but what she did regret was having to leave them behind. They would both be devastated, but she did hope that her death would help bring them closer. Something good should come out of it, she thought. 

Astoria knew when she was about to die. She knew from the moment she woke up that morning that she would not wake up the next time she fell asleep. It was a good thing she got up early, she supposed. 

She had her own room, separate from Draco’s. They’d shared a room until her sickness progressed to the point where she couldn’t get out of bed often. She made the decision to move because she could tell her husband was torn between staying with her and worrying about disturbing her in mornings when he got ready for work. 

Astoria refused to be confined to a bed today, though. She got up, abate slowly, and sat by her window to watch the sun rise. It was lovely, and she was glad she got the opportunity to see it one last time. Afterwards, she got dressed and headed down the hall for breakfast. She didn’t get very far before she had to summon a couple of house elves to help her. One of them even brought her a cane, the sweet creature. 

Another one of the elves held open dining room door, and Astoria went through it with a graceless stumble. Her son looked up from his breakfast to see her coming, and he dropped his spoon into his bowl of cereal. He jumped up and immediately came to her aid with a shout of, “Mum, what are you doing?”

Scorpius was such a wonderful child, although she was more than a little bias, being his mother and all. She didn’t think she was wrong, however, and her thoughts were only proven as he helped her to the table and pulled out a chair for her. 

“Thank you, Scorpius,” she breathed, sitting down heavily. The house elves disappeared with a pop, but they left the cane with her. “Where is your father?”

“He usually comes a few minutes after me,” Scorpius said, and though he sat back down in his own spot, he didn’t begin eating again. He was watching her, concerned. Astoria didn’t like the thought of her baby fretting over her, even if it was warranted, and so she put a smile on her face. “What are you doing out here, Mum?”  
“Oh, I was tired of staying in bed.”

Scorpius’ expression soured, and Astoria had the distinct feeling that he knew she wasn’t going to live until tomorrow, also. 

***

Astoria talked to Draco privately after breakfast. She explained gently that she had a feeling that her time was almost up, and she asked him to take the day off from work. Part of her had debated not telling him at all, but she was selfish. She wanted to be with him on her last day. 

Draco stayed home. 

Astoria was well aware of Scorpius noticing that, too. 

In the evening, she went back to their room, the room she shared with Draco for most of their marriage. She laid down on her side of the bed, far more tired than she had been in a long time, which was definitely saying something. 

There was a little knock on the bedroom door. “Come in.”

Scorpius poked his head in, and Astoria could tell he’d been crying. His eyes were red, and there tear tracks down his face. She sat up again, although her body was screaming at her to lie down in the embrace of death. “Come here, Scorpius,” she said softly, and he ran into the room and flew into her arms. 

“Dad stayed home from work,” he said, his tears wetting her top. “And you… you got out of bed. But… you aren’t better.”

“No,” she agreed, “I’m not.”

“Are you coming to breakfast again tomorrow?” Scorpius asked.

“No, baby,” Astoria answered, and Scorpius cried harder. 

“I love you, Mum,” he said. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m sorry. I love you, too, Scorpius.”

“Can you hold me until you go?” 

Astoria nodded, tears in her own eyes. She stroked his hair and held him close, and he continued to cry.  
Draco came in a few minutes later, and without a word, he sat down on the bed beside them. There was nothing but the sound of Scorpius sobbing until he managed to cry himself to sleep.

“You don’t look like you’re about to die,” Draco said, but Astoria could tell he was lying - more to himself than to her. 

“A momentary reprieve from my illness before it takes me. It happens to plenty of people.”

“Are you sure this is it?” Astoria looked at her husband and realized that he seemed as exhausted as she felt. Still, there was a glimmer of hope in his grey eyes, like he was willing her to promise him that she’d be there in the morning. 

She dropped her eyes to her son. “Yes.”

She glanced up again in time to see a tear run her husband’s cheek. 

***

Astoria fell asleep that night with her arms around her son and her husband behind her. The last thing she recalled feeling was an incredible amount of peace as sleep and death came over her together.

***

Astoria came back. 

Of course she did. 

She was some sort of ghost, though not the kind that walked the halls of Hogwarts. For one, no one could see her. And then, she wasn’t confined to her place of death, but rather she was more connected to her son. She followed him to school at the beginning of September, which was only a week after her death. She watched him tell his best friend about her passing, and she could’ve sworn her heart ached if it wasn’t lying cold and unbeating in a morgue. 

Astoria looked away when he left school for the day to attend her funeral, but otherwise she kept an eye on him. She gave him his privacy, of course, even though he never knew she was there. But she sat with him - figuratively, as she couldn’t really sit anymore - in the library as he worked. She watched him share sweets with Albus Potter - Scorpius kept candy in his robes all the time, a little quirk that made her smile. She watched the little Granger-Weasley girl reject him. She saw him grow up and do things great and stupid in equal measure. 

And she definitely noticed that he fell in love with his best friend Albus. 

***

In Scorpius’ seventh year, Astoria truly found her peace. 

Scorpius stepped aside one day in the spring, one random day, and he slipped into an unused room on the first floor that he and Albus had found one afternoon. Astoria followed him curiously, as he’d told Albus he was headed to the library. 

“Mum?” he said aloud into the darkness of the room. 

Astoria could swear she still had a heart, because it felt like it stopped when he called for her. “Scorpius? “ she replied, though she knew he couldn’t hear her. In the beginning, she had screamed at both him and Draco for days, trying to get them to notice her and knowing they never would. 

“Mum, I… I have a feeling that you’re there. That you’re… watching over me,” he continued like she hadn’t spoken. His eyes darted around the room, but they never landed on her. She wasn’t there, not in any physical sense. “I… did some reading about ghosts. I don’t know if you noticed that.”

She hadn’t. She’d watched Scorpius read plenty of books over the years, and she couldn’t remember most of them. “What did you find?” 

“Only permanent ghosts appear to people. But I think you’re a temporary one. You’re just waiting around to see if I’m alright,” Scorpius said. Astoria hadn’t thought much about why she was still on this plane of existence, but his logic made enough sense. She had always worried about him, between his meek nature and his ancestry - both actual and rumored - he was the target of bullies for a long time. Although, that had quelled a bit after fourth year. 

“I’m alright, Mum,” he said softly. 

“Oh, Scorpius…”

“I love you. I do. But you need to move on. It’s not good for you to stay here… Please, don’t worry about me anymore.”

“I will always worry about you,” Astoria said firmly, but Scorpius was still speaking. 

“Mum, I’m in love with someone, I don’t know if you noticed that.”

Astoria had noticed that many years ago. In fact, one would have to be blind not to notice. “I noticed.”

“Albus loves me, too, Mum, and he’ll take care of me. And Dad’s still here with me. Please, Mum, please, you need to be at peace,” Scorpius said, and now he was begging and crying, and Astoria saw that twelve year old boy she’d held the night of her death in front of her. He had asked her to hold him until it was time for her to go, and she realized suddenly that she held him for too long. That she should have gone years ago. 

As soon as this realization hit her, she felt her consciousness fading. It really was time to go. “I love you, Scorpius,” she said, and just before everything went black - permanently this time - she saw Scorpius look directly at her, teary eyes wide. 

“I love you, too, Mum.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not crying you're crying


End file.
